Thursday, November 16, 2017

Italian director Sergio Martino's work has been a major blind spot for me. One of the great things about streaming services and DVD/Blu Ray companies like Arrow and Scream Factory has been remedying a lot of my blind spots. My in road to Martino was the re-release of 1972's Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key. It was loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" (Arrow paired the film in a box set with Lucio Fulci's The Black Cat) and starred Edwige Fenech, Anita Strindberg, and Luigi Pistilli. It's a spectacularly sleazy romp, but also artfully directed and well worth tracking down.

Martino's 1973 film Torso is almost better in my opinion, but has some major issues that really bog it down in the second half. As a Giallo it hits all the major points; you have a mysterious killer, lots of suspects and red herrings, beautifully shot, with lots of bloody violence and eroticism. Torso is somewhat less stylish than Blood And Black Lace (1964, Mario Bava)or Deep Red (1975, Dario Argento), but has a grittier feel, closer to an American slasher film. The killer, which we fully see earlier than in some Giallos, wears a mask that's somewhat remeniscent to the proto-slasher The Town That Dreaded Sundown.

Martino's shooting style is fantastic. The camera is always busy, but never distracting, giving many of the scenes a delirious momentum. I have to admit, I never had Torso very high on my watch list, assuming it was just an exploitation, lady-killer flick. Which it is, but artfully done. It stars Suzy Kendall (The Bird With The Crystal Plumage), Tina Aumont (Two Orphan Vampires), Luc Merenda (Le Mans), and John Richardson (Black Sunday) and was written by Martino and Ernesto Gastaldi (The Case Of The Bloody Iris).

The story centers on a series of brutal strangulations and mutilations, that are sexual in nature, around the University of Perugia. The story moves to a country villa, with four friends getting away for a holiday, but they're followed by the killer. Along the way we get lots of sex and nudity, brutal kills, and occasional doll imagery. The film, really, is all aesthetic with little substance, a charge that could be often leveled at Argento.

There is a cringe-factor with the level of misogyny present in the murders though, but nothing approaching Fulci's New York Ripper, which for me was a film that actually bordered on being anti-woman (I'm not calling Fulci a misogynist, based on what I've read about him, I don't think he was, however New York Ripper is fucking repugnant and represents the absolute worst that slashers and Giallo have to offer), for instance in the first kill of the film, after strangling a woman, who just finished having sex in a car, the killer takes his knife and carves off her breast, after feeling her up. He does this later, when he follows a woman in danger of being gang raped by two other men.

Honestly, these issues can't be waved off or simply ignored just because a film is thirty, forty, or fifty years old. A film like Torso is more than just sordid entertainment, it's the product of a culture of misogyny, as the later slashers were products of repression and conservative lock down. Unlike the slasher film, we don't have a "final girl," though Jane (Kendall) appears to be one, she's actually just the one that survived long enough for a man to show up and save her.

Jane is robbed of agency and justice. Compare her to Nancy in A Nightmare On Elm Street. Laurie in Halloween, or Jenny in Friday The 13th Part 2-Jane doesn't confront the killer and stop him, she's trapped and toyed with until a man from the village arrives and interrupts her murder. He's the one that pursues the killer, he's the one that ends the terror, while Jane stands by in shock being rescued. On the other hand, the women in the film are independent and sexually free. They don't go off on holiday with boyfriends, but alone and are confident in their own skin, but are they? The film is written by a men, directed by a man, and appeals to the male gaze in spades. We might excuse films that are less than sensitive when it comes to dealing with sexual politics, race, and/or homosexuality, but with Torso we're talking 1973 and within a year we get both Black Christmas and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, both of which feature well written, believable female protagonists, that do have agency, that fight back.

Though it predates the American slasher by either one year (Black Christmas) or five years (Halloween) depending on where you believe the slasher film really starts, it has a lot similarities to it's American cousin with the psychology of the killer. His murders are tied to sex, loss, and guilt, which would be the primary instigations in one combination or another for the entire sub-genre. Like Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees, Torso's masked killer shows up to dispatch women and occasionally men after they've had sex, or in the case of a shoe maker, who gets killed for voyeurism. The killer's sexual repression doesn't matter at all up to the point of the reveal, because the movie chugs along freely with little more than a thin murder mystery as it's engine. The raison d'etre is mostly after thought.

I honestly don't know what to do with the casual misogyny in many horror films. For years I shrugged it off, like I'm sure many fans have, and tried to focus my attention on films that had more to offer. I wish I could wrap up on a positive note, as I enjoyed the film while I watched it, but in the end I just can't not be blase about the fact that this is a misogynistic film and shouldn't be let off the hook just because it's old.

Monday, October 30, 2017

Halloween, as we all well know, is a holy day for fans of horror. Young and old alike revel in the holiday, either by creating new memories or drifting away in old ones, wrapping up tight in a safety blanket of enjoyable frights, candy, and all the darkly colorful accoutrements of the season. Jack O'Lanterns, ghosts, witches, monsters, black cats, and the like: these are our banners, our sigils, all our very souls on this most special day.

So what's better than celebrating it with one's favorite horror movies? Not much, if you ask me. Certain people go for their absolute top of the chart Best Of lists, some choose flicks that best represent the day to them, and yet others go straight to the nostalgia pile and watch the ones that made them feel as they did as a child. However you may choose to get down, I am here to tell you that there's no incorrect way to do it -- to commemorate Halloween RIGHT, all you have to do is love it. It's just that simple, cut and dried, end of story, period.

The different lists people come up with to watch Halloween always fascinate and please me, as do the reasons they have for choosing them. "This scared the piss out of me when I was 10, I had nightmares for weeks!" is a great one. "My (insert family member or friend here) showed it to me one year and I've been over the harvest moon for it ever since" is another. Just hearing all these personal testimonials is like filling myself up with Halloween love and it's a remarkable sensation that I'll never get tired of. Speaking of what will never get old, I'd like to share the three films that, over the years, have become my very own Must Watch Films on my most favorite holiday, and the order in which I've perfected the way I best enjoy viewing them.

First up: Tim Burton's 1999 film SLEEPY HOLLOW. I was lucky enough to catch this in the theater and you could never have prepared me for how deeply I would fall for with this love letter to the Hammer films of yore. In fact, it immediately shot to the top of my own list of favorite Burton flicks (pushing previous No.1 title holder

BEETLEJUICE aside with an ancient, gnarled hand) -- I had no inkling at the time that it would become a yearly staple of my Halloween viewing but I for damn sure had a blast watching it. I start off with this one because it's not only funny and gory and sports some top notch performances from a game cast (which is LOADED with heavy hitters and character actor legends, by the way), but due to the atmosphere it's literally dripping with. The way everything LOOKS -- dig that exquisite photography by legendary DP Emmanuel Lubezki -- is a sheer delight for my senses and gets me in a Halloween mood before the opening scene has concluded. You can all but feel the chilled mist floating in the air on your skin, hear the crackling of dead leaves under your feet, and smell the wafting smoke and scents of spice...maybe even a hint of coppery blood. It's like the flick inhales cinema and exhales Halloween, and that more than anything is why I now kick off every year's holiday in such style. (Plus, I am a total sucker for the too-bright stage blood used in the flick -- again, shades of old 70's horror pictures -- that reminds me of so much melted candle wax. It's fucking lovely.)

Second up: the new horror classic TRICK R' TREAT from writer/director Michael Dougherty. Between this and the Christmas themed winner KRAMPUS, this dude has staked a claim as being the reigning champion of genre holiday films, as he is 2-for-2 thus far. Now I'm wondering if he'll ever make one about a monstrous Easter Bunny (would watch, HARD) -- but I digress. Since its release 10 (!) years ago, this movie has become rightly beloved by the horror community, and you'll find it on many, many lists of people deciding to observe Samhain like the best kind of savages. Coincidentally, that's precisely why I choose this as the second flick to watch; while SLEEPY HOLLOW is all about immersing myself in the mood of the day, TRICK R' TREAT is how I truly memorialize it. My personal favorite flick set ON the day (and pretty much everybody's, at that) is coming up, but this is the movie that I'd say is the very best at being ABOUT Halloween ever made. The customs, the lore, the history, the fears -- it's everything we love all wrapped up in four interweaving tales, told with a terrific sense of humor and stellar eye (and if you need help with those just say the word, Billy Wilkins) for what makes the season so iconic. I'm talking about everything from the costumes to the decorations to all the things that go bump in the night, just outside your view...or perhaps right outside your front door, or maybe even your bedroom window. Why don't you go take a look? I'm sure it's just the wind.

Third and last up: I mean, come on now. It's GOTTA be John Carpenter's seminal 1978 slasher HALLOWEEN. This is a perfect movie; any and all arguments end there for me. What the greatest living director of horror films (and the greatest of all time, in this writer's opinion) did with this flick flat-out changed the game. There's definitely a case to be made that he was building upon the work that other films before him had laid out previously, almost as a roadmap leading Carpenter to creating this masterpiece (films such as PEEPING TOM, PSYCHO, and BLACK CHRISTMAS come immediately to mind) -- but it's HOW he did it that makes this movie remain ridiculously effective almost 40 goddamned years later. The simple yet insistently chilling score from Carpenter himself. The iconic Shape and his mask. The original Final Girl we all fell in love with, the one we rooted and were terrified for, Laurie Strode (played so memorably by soon-to-be-Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis). The way Michael Myers seemed to be fucking EVERYWHERE, ready to step out of any shadow, stand up from behind any object, and the steady, unstoppable intent of his approach when he was coming directly for you. This film is John Carpenter declaring "Pay attention -- there's a new sheriff in town, everyone." And all of us did. The master is just that phenomenal.

Even though this article may be about the three movies I've loyally watched as a concrete group for roughly a decade now, I would like to include as an honorable mention one newer flick that very recently has become one I've decided to end the evening with every year on out, and that's the WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL from 2013. This loving recreation of vintage 1980's Halloween night television is note-perfect, right down to the fake commercials that I would SWEAR I've seen before, and simply damn well done. It's like stepping into a time machine for those of us lucky to grow up and/or be of a specific age in that decade. Watching this actually feels like the exact thing that would be playing on my local station after I got home from trick or treating, sat down in the center of my living room floor in front of the TV, dumped my pillowcase full of candy onto the floor, and dug into a feast for my eyes, ears, and stomach. It's ALL treat.

There's probably somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred or more killer flicks to watch on Halloween, but those are the ones I make sure I NEVER miss on that holiest of days -- after all, I'm a fan of horror and have been since I was probably 6 or 7, and as such I have my own Must Watch list. Every year I throw different ones in and around them, but even if I only have time for a few they're the ones that just HAVE to be seen, and they have yet to fail me. Loyalty born out of consistency can't be overrated, in my book.

So, in conclusion: may you all have your own special fright flicks to view and enjoy this and every year, and may you all have the very greatest of days and joyfully darkest of nights -- HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

He may not have a name as instantly recognizable as David Cronenberg or Tobe Hooper, but Dan O'Bannon is a critical figure in the horror/sci-fi genres. Born September 30th, 1946 in Missouri, O'Bannon attended University Of Southern California, where he befriended fellow student John Carpenter. The two would go on to collaborate on their student film Dark Star, which Carpenter directed while O'Bannon wrote the script, edited the film, and even starred as one of the leads. He also worked as a computer animator on Star Wars before joining Alejandro Jodorowsky's doomed adaptation of Dune.

Where O'Bannon's career really took off was with screenplay for the movie Alien based on the story he wrote with Ronald Shusett. (Jason Zinoman's excellent and important book, Shock Value, is packed with insight into O'Bannon's early career through to his untimely death. I can't recommend this book enough. It's about the birth of the modern era of horror.) Alien got made as Fox was looking to cash in on the popularity of Star Wars, but the sharp, intelligent, and truly frightening story, with brilliant direction from Ridley Scott, and terrifying creature design by HR Giger, elevated the film above it's B-movie trappings and made it not just superior to other Star Wars cash-ins, like Galaxy Of Terror or Battle Beyond The Stars, but made it a stone cold classic in it's own rite, that we don't even think of Alien in terms of Star Wars. Zinoman tells a story about O'Bannon showing Scott Texas Chainsaw Massacre before filming, so Scott would know where he was coming from with the screenplay. It had it's impact as Scott set out to make the Texas Chainsaw Massacre of science fiction.

After Alien, his next writing project was for a Canadian production called Phobia (1980), but he is uncredited in the film, mainly because the rewrite he and Shusett did of the original and flawed screenplay was tossed out by the producer. It's directed by John Huston (Wise Blood), whom O'Bannon contacted about the screenplay, but Huston was more intersted in taking the money and running, which meant not conflicting with the producer. Phobia is currently unavailable on DVD, but I believe it is streaming on Amazon. Phobia's writing is attributed to Shusett and Gary Sherman, as well as Lew Lehman, Jimmy Sangster, and Peter Bellwood.

Next, O'Bannon wrote the screenplay Dead and Buried (1981), a movie about a coastal town where the residents are harboring dark secrets, tourists are dying, and their bodies starting coming back to life. It was directed by Gary Sherman and again O'Bannon teamed up with Shusett to adapt the film from the novel by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Dead and Buried is like an amazing extended episode of the Twilight Zone. It's a diabolical murder mystery with some gory set pieces and cool twist, and a young Robert Englund.

Also in 1981, he worked on Heavy Metal The Movie, writing the segments "Soft Landing" and my favorite of them all, "B-17." In 1983 he wrote the film Blue Thunder, starring Roy Scheider (Jaws), Warren Oates (Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia), Malcolm MacDowell (A Clockwork Orange), and Daniel Stern (C.H.U.D.).Blue Thunder originally had more political context in the screenplay, which was ultimately cut, but we were left with a pretty good, 80s action film with an above average cast. I haven't seen this one since the mid-80s, but my memory of it is having really enjoyed it. Apparently Scheider took the role so he intentionally wouldn't be available for Jaws 3.

O'Bannon's first directing job, aside from his student film Blood Bath, was 1985's The Return Of The Living Dead, but he wasn't originally supposed to direct it. Return... is based on the novel of the same name by John Russo, who was George Romero's collaborator on Night Of The Living Dead. Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Tobe Hooper (RIP) was first tapped to direct the film and it would have been called Tobe Hooper's The Return Of The Living Dead, but he passed on the film to take a three picture deal with Canon, which would not only produce another Chainsaw film, but two collaborations with O'Bannon.

O'Bannon wound up being the perfect person to write and direct Return. He had a vision and a handle on the material that no one else could reproduce. Starring veterans Clu Galager, Don Calfa, and James Karen, and newcomers Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, and Miguel Nunez, not mention ultimate scream queen Linnea Quigley, with production designer William Stout, Return was very much it's own beast, separate from Romero's Dead films, even if it sprang from the same source. O'Bannon really wanted his corpses to look like real corpses and he and Stout found inspiration in the old EC Comics like Tales From The Crypt. And where Romero's films had a serious undercurrent of social commentary and satire, O'Bannon went for more straight forward comedy, but not in a jokey/ slapstick manner. The comedy came naturally from the characters and situations and was really funny for us the viewer, while still being frightening and believably so, for the characters. Also, to me, the zombie attacks are far scarier than in any other zombie film I've ever seen. Other films are more gory, but the way Returns' zombies trap, attack, and overwhelm their victims is unlike any other out there. Even being preceded by a laugh out line like "Send more cops..."delivered by a zombie on the police radio.

Also in 1985, the first of the Canon films with Tobe Hooper came out. Lifeforce was based on the Colin Wilson novel The Space Vampires. Space vampires was not a concept that was unfamiliar to O'Bannon, as Mario Bava's Planet Of The Vampires was a big inspiration on Alien. Also, in a way Lifeforce could almost serve as a pseudo-sequel to Planet Of The Vampires, if the time periods matched up better. You can read more of my thoughts on Lifeforce HERE.

Their next collaboration came in 1986 with the remake Invaders From Mars. The film absolutely bombed. Made for $12 million, it ultimately grossed only 4 and didn't win favor with the critics. Which is too bad, as it is far from a bad film. Why it, Lifeforce, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 did so poorly is beyond me. Invaders is certainly the weaker of the three films, but O'Bannon and Hooper delivered a fun, but flawed movie.

O'Bannon's next two writing credits were for a pair of Philip K Dick stories; 1990's Total Recall and 1995's Screamers. Total Recall had been in development hell for a few years, at point with David Cronenberg attached to direct (side note; Cronenberg (and Lynch) has accused O'Bannon of ripping off his ideas in Shivers and Rabid for Alien. I don't doubt that O'Bannon was inspired by Cronenberg and he certainly was familiar with those films, but to accuse him of ripping Cronenberg is ridiculous. And frankly, Cronenberg is better than that and should drop it.) It starred Arnold Scwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, and Michael Ironside and was directed by Robocop's Paul Verhoven. (Some of the themes from Blue Thunder turn up more effectively in Robocop, and the two make for an interesting double feature). The film did very well, as most Arnold pictures did in the 80s, unlike Screamers, which starred Robocop himself, Peter Weller. That film sadly bombed as well, but as a sci-fi horror it's worth tracking down.

Between the PKD films, O'Bannon wrote and directed The Resurrected, starring Chris Sarandon, Jane Tibbet, and John Terry, based on the HP Lovecraft story "The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward." O'Bannon made the film a detective story with strong undercurrents of Lovecraft's weird horror. I remember the VHS box art and logo very distinctly, but I never watched it back in the day. Had I realized it was by the guy who made Return, one of my all time favorite films, I would have been all over it. Not to mention "The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward" is one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. Scream Factory just released a brand new Blu-ray of the film this month.

His last writing credit is for an Italian production, starring Rutger Hauer, called Hemoglobin aka Bleeders (1997). I haven't found this one yet and don't recall ever seeing it around. Apparently its partly based on Lovecraft's "The Lurking Fear" and is about a man with a rare blood disease traveling to a distant island and discovering that his kinfolk are monstrous underground dwellers.

O'Bannon passed away in 2009 from complications with Crohn's disease, the affliction that had inspired him to write the chest burster scene in Alien. I don't know why, considering how strong his body of work is, we don't have more Dan O'Bannon films. He had a great imagination and understanding and knowledge of film, and truly loved the genre stuff and wasn't just using it as stepping stone to "legitimate" film making. I wish that I had appreciated his work more growing up, instead of realizing years later, "oh he wrote THAT too..?"

If you're a filmmaker or a writer I highly recommend picking up O'Bannon's Guide To Screenplay Structure with Matt Lohr. I've found it to be one of the most helpful books on the subject. Get it HERE.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

@bloodandgourd spoke the truth on Twitter tonight; "Remember, Stem-Heads, celebrating #HALLOWEEN without The Cramps makes Satan cranky!" Well, I'm a bit more worried about making the spirit of Lux cranky, so the first Sound Attack in a long time is all about The Cramps... Now shut up and do The Ultra Twist!!

Monday, October 16, 2017

The most successful remakes take the basic bones of an original film and builds, expands, and improves on the original. Carpenter's The Thing, Cronenberg's The Fly, Kauffman's Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, and more recently Vogt-Robert's Kong; Skull Island are all perfect examples of this. The first three took classic b-movies and created modern classics that are more than remakes, but integral entries in each director's catalogue and I believe Kong;Skull Island will prove to be a durable, well-loved film for generations to come.

Another remake that nailed the formula was 1988's The Blob, directed by Chuck Russell, who also directed one of the best slasher sequels of all, A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 3; The Dream Warriors. Russell worked on adapting the screenplay with Frank Darabont (The Mist, The Walking Dead) and what they came up with is a funny, violent, gory, and entertaining under-rated horror film. It's been hard to see since the VHS days, as there hasn't been a proper domestic DVD or Blu-ray readily available the same way that The Thing or The Fly has never gone out of print. That may be due to the fact it only grossed about $8 million of it's $19 million budget. Frankly, I can't understand this at all.

Starring Kevin Dillon (The Doors) and Shawnee Smith (Saw II and III) and featuring Jeffery DeMunn (The Walking Dead, The Mist), Bill Moseley (Texas Chainsaw Massacre II), Joe Seneca (Malcolm X), Candy Clark (Blue Thunder) Jack Nance (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet), and Paul McCrane (Robocop, ER), The Blob had just as strong talent in front of the camera as behind. The original film starred Steve McQueen, but for me, didn't offer much else. It's a very slow movie and The Blob itself just doesn't feel threatening. It's so slow, you feel like people could just run away if it fails to sneak up on them. The '88 version on the other hand, is fast, corrosive, and strikes with a suddenness and an animal cruelty that leans more towards The Thing.

The gore effects really sale the movie for me. The image of the melting corpses wrapped in Blob goo reaching for help is amazing. DeMunn's distorted face floating in the pinkish slime is awesome.
Melted bodies, limbs ripped away, a body eaten in half-it may not be near as gory as The Fly or The Thing, but it certainly has it's moments. I think perhaps it's stronger as a special effects film than a character film, like the other two are. Not to knock any of the performances, but The Blob simply doesn't have a MacReady or Brundle for us to latch on to and get emotionally invested in. That said, Shawnee Smith as Meg Penny is a great final girl-smart, resourceful, and brave-never letting fear or panic stop her from running headlong into danger. I'd put Meg up there with Jenny from Friday The 13th Part 2 or Kristen from ANOES 3.

In the last several days I've seen a number people Tweeting or posting on Facebook about watching The Blob as part of their 31 Days of Horror and that is awesome. Those in the know have championed this film all along and I hope it's reputation continues to grow. I remember seeing some behind-the-scenes shots with some interviews on TV before it hit theater and it came out when I was jumping into horror with both feet. I was very excited. When it finally hit VHS and cable I watched it often. It was a lot of fun revisiting it this month with my kids. We all had a blast and I'm already looking forward to watching it again.

Friday, October 13, 2017

Friday The 13th, Jason Vorhees, and all related characters are property of the copyright holders. This is fan fiction, created with love, with no intention of profiting.

1

Summer had died and it had been a dead summer. Two
hikers that had gotten lost, a surveyor, and a Youtube Jason-spotter, that
tried to set up some wild life cameras. The ruins of Camp Crystal Lake hadn’t
been touched in years and there hadn’t been a large group of people in the area
since those feds set up that ambush. As the air turned chilly and the leaves
died on their branches, Jason wandered the area around Crystal Lake less and
less.

The most recent sighting that had gone on-line was
from a drone that had captured him crossing a clearing. Drones routinely flew
around the lake, some from law enforcement, some from private citizens. There
were also a mix of security, CCTV, and wild life cameras that had been
officially and unofficially set up in the last several years to catch a glimpse
of the infamous hockey-masked mad man. The view count on that last drone
sighting was in the millions as the eight seconds of footage spread across the
news and social media. But as all seasoned and noob Jason-spotters alike knew,
when the air turned cold, Jason became less active and would often disappear
for months.

The Jason-spotter had been found mid-August, spread
across a mile of Cunningham Road, just outside of the campground, well within
the border of the official dead zone where citizens were banned from entering.
A heavily armed state patrol unit rushed in after his remains were spotted on a
CCTV camera. They scooped up enough to bury and got the hell out. As a general
rule, cops don’t go near Camp Blood. Don’t bother calling 911 if you’re dumb
enough to go out there.

2

Calculus. Sixth period. What was she thinking
taking this class? Mr. Sawyer was the most boring man PJ had ever met. It
wasn’t just her, everyone in class was half asleep. Accept Miss Michelle Miner,
of course. Miss Michelle, sheriff’s daughter. Miss Michelle, most likely...
Miss Michelle, top of her class. Miss Michelle, so…blah. The very fact that
Miss Michelle even landed Dave Maguire really pissed her off. Not to mention he insisted on Miss Michelle
being invited to the costume party.

‘What are you thinking, Dave? Once she finds out
where the party is, she’ll just tell her mom.’

‘Don’t worry, she has no idea where the party is.
She thinks we’re going to your aunt’s cabin. If we can just get her there
she’ll relax and you guys will see how awesome she is.’

‘Make sure you get her phone,’ she had told him.
‘so she can’t call her mom and give us away.’

PJ had been friends with Dave since fourth grade,
she wanted him to be happy, but she didn’t believe for a second he’d be happy
with ‘Miss Uptight Kill Joy”, Michelle Miner.

Thank god for the bell. PJ was the first on her
feet and heading for the door. Mr. Sawyer said something about an assignment,
but she was going to fail this class anyway, so screw it.

As she reached her locker, she heard that chirpy,
chipper voice calling her name. She looked to her right and saw Michelle
running up waving.

“Hey, PJ, I just wanted to say thank you again for
inviting me to your party. I’m really excited, I finished my costume last
night.”

PJ forced a smile.

“No prob. I mean, Dave’s my best friend, how could
I not invite his girlfriend.”

Michelle blushed a bit. She wasn’t sure if she and
Dave were really at that point or not, but the idea that other people thought so
was exciting.

“Ok, well, I’ll see you tonight!”

PJ just smiled and nodded. As Michelle started to
walk away PJ asked,

“What’s your costume anyway?”

“Alice…In Wonderland.”

PJ smiled and nodded again and rolled her eyes
after Michelle had moved on. Of course, Alice In Wonderland, you fucking blonde
stereotype.

3

Michelle walked quickly through the hall, not
because she was in a hurry, it was just her natural way of moving. Head up,
eyes moving, alert. It’s how her mother raised her. Be ready for anything,
because in this world-in this town-anything can happen. Michelle had been told
this since she was a young child and her mother always kept her close, never
let her stray. Michelle was raised to be a fighter. Growing up in Crystal Lake,
only a fool didn’t look over their shoulder.

As a result, Michelle could come off as uptight.
She was a bit of a misfit, never getting to go to sleep-overs or on hikes. It
was just this year that her mother finally agreed to let her start dating. Her
father couldn’t handle how intense her mom was, how protective and stubborn. He
eventually moved out. Michelle had gotten used to nights in. She knew the day
would come that she could go away to college and never come back to this
horrible town. In the meantime, why rock the boat? Her mom wasn’t wrong, after
all. It was exceptionally dangerous here. They lived only mere miles from the
hunting grounds of the world’s most notorious mass murderer, who apparently was
also unkillable.

Michelle made her way across the courtyard of Crystal
Lake High to the parking lot and spotted Dave and his friends Tyler and Dylan
sitting on the retaining wall. Tyler was ok, but Dylan was obnoxious and loud
and always telling off color jokes. Dave was no angel, but he was nothing like
Dylan. To her, Dylan seemed like the type of friend you got stuck with rather
than choose.

“Hi, guys.”

Dave jumped off the wall and gave her a big hug,
literally sweeping her off her feet. She laughed and kissed him lightly on the
lips. He was tall and slender with long hair and a goofy smile. He was almost a
head taller than her, which she loved.

“I’m just joking around, Michelle…ya know, because
your mom is all crazy.”

Michelle suddenly shoved him and cocked her fist,
but Dave wrapped his arms around her. Dylan covered his face, ducking away.

Dave pulled her back.

“Michelle, he’s just being an asshole…”

“Sorry, sorry…”

“Fuck you, Dylan! You call my mom crazy? Well,
fewer people have died on her watch than under any other sheriff in over forty
years!”

Dylan rushed in and wrapped his arms around both
Michelle and Dave.

“I’m sorry, Michelle! You’re just so fucking hot
when you’re mad, I can’t help myself!”

At this she cracked up, called him an asshole, and
hugged him back.

4

The house was a fortress. Steel doors, motion
detectors, bars over the windows, a panic room, and enough guns stowed around
the house to take down a small country. Sheriff Megan Garris knew though, none
of it would really matter if he ever came for her.

Jason never did come for her though, even after he
had somehow escaped from the bottom of the lake where she had helped Tommy
Jarvis trap him. She thought of these things every morning when she woke up.

It was a night. A matter of hours. And her world
was dashed upon the rocks. Her father was murdered. Her friends slaughtered.
And Tommy. The boy who cried Jason and no one, but her believed him. That blind
faith cost her everything. Deputy Rick Cologne testified that Tommy was the
killer, since no one knew where Jason’s body was, and that he had manipulated
Megan. It was Megan’s word against his, with no one to back her up but several
traumatized children. There was enough reasonable doubt that she wasn’t charged
as an accessory, and Tommy would avoid a death sentence and be sent to a high
security mental hospital. But he ran that night. Minutes after sinking Jason to
the bottom of the lake.

Don’t tell anyone where he’s at…He can’t be
disturbed again. I have to go, I’ve…caused so much…suffering…Megan, I’m so
sorry.

He stole her car and left her to take care of the
children. For that, if she ever sees him again, she’ll shoot him in the
kneecap.

A matter of hours.

Megan’s life was in a tailspin for years. She
drank, she became semi-reclusive, she got involved with the wrong men, until
one day she looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and didn’t
recognize the person looking back at her. She said no. No. Fuck this. The very
next night, Jason returned and slaughtered another group of people. She said
no. Fuck that. It was a hard road to follow in her father’s footsteps, but she
made a life for herself she could be proud of, aside from her daughter’s father
who couldn’t hang. At least she never married him.

Megan was working late, because it was Friday the
13th with Halloween right around the corner and this stupid town was
full of stupid people who liked to do stupid shit on Friday the 13ths and
Halloweens. So, she slept late, woke up to a quiet house, worked out, showered,
and ate lunch in front of her laptop.

Crystallakekiller.com had the latest drone footage,
which was still fairly recent. She’d watched the short video several times
since it had been uploaded. A chill ran up her spine every time. She could
still feel his hands on her head. She had been inches from those eyes. She knew
he didn’t see her, he didn’t see anything, but rage.

In all her years with the Cunningham County
Sheriff’s department she had never seen him again. She’s cleaned up a fair
share of his messes, though. Containment. That was the policy she had pushed
from day one. Contain him. Give him the camp grounds. Close off the area and
just leave him alone. She was a rookie when the feds went in and ambushed
Jason, blowing him to pieces, but the son of a bitch came back even from that.
And massacred a lot of cops. That was followed by a massive incursion of state
troopers, National Guard, and surviving local cops storming the forest
intending to burn it all down to get him, but he was gone without a trace.
Megan had picked up Jessica Freeman and fugitive Steven Freeman walking down
the highway. They had a wild story about sending Jason to Hell. Megan believed
them and was instrumental in clearing Steven’s name.

How Jason came back again, no one is sure. Crystal
Lake had become Forest Green when Megan was still in school, and after a decade
of silence from Jason, the town fathers decided to change the name back to
Crystal Lake, to capitalize on the notoriety of the town’s history. Jason
seemed to rise to the occasion and the killings began anew.

The difference this time, Megan was sheriff. She
went to the state senate and got the area around the campground designated a
dead zone. She wanted to get a massive fence surrounding an eight-mile radius,
but there was no budget for that. Highways did get rerouted though, and several
billboards went up warning people away. Those billboards all contained another
ominous message. “Calling 911 will not get you help. Stay out.” Megan had seen
enough good cops go in the ground. No more, not on her watch.

She put on her uniform, filled her to-go cup with
coffee and half and half and headed for the door. On the porch, she was about
to lock up when Michelle’s car pulled into the driveway. Megan’s smile withered
at the sight of Dave in the passenger seat. He wasn’t necessarily a bad kid,
but he reminded her a bit of her old friend Cort. She couldn’t help seeing a
knife jammed into Dave’s skull. She shuddered. Fuck October. Fuck Halloween.

“Hi, guys. How was school?”

“Hi, mom! It was fine.”

“Hi, sheriff Garris.”

“Dave. So, big party tonight, huh? Where was it
again?”

“At PJ’s aunt’s cabin, over on Miller.”

“Will PJ’s aunt be home?”

Michelle turned to Dave, who stood there awkwardly
not realizing the question was directed at him.

“Oh…uh, yea! I think so.”

“Do I have her number?”

“Here,” Michelle said, getting out her phone, “I’ll
text it to you.”

Megan kissed her forehead and turned to Dave.

“I want her home at midnight. 12:05 and I’m running
your ass in.”

“Uhhh…”

“She’s kidding.”

“Be late and we’ll see if I’m kidding.”

5

Crystal Lake was brilliantly colored with fallen
leaves and Halloween decorations. Most stores had worked a hockey mask motif
into their window decorations, though Megan had banned the sale of hockey masks
resembling Jason’s a couple years ago after a high school kid was shot by one
of her deputies in the midst of a prank gone wrong. The tourists were here en
masse. Crystal Lake was fast becoming the new Salem, Massachusetts. The town
was full of goths and horror nerds, true crime fanatics and other weirdos.

Megan steered her cruiser down Main Street shaking
her head at all these assholes. Real people were dead. More than two hundred.
These morons were lined up taking selfies with the old camp sign that the diner
hung up. Assholes. Would they be hanging around here if they could see Sissy’s
mangled body?

She pulled into the parking lot of the police
station and took a deep breath. She had a feeling this was going to be a long
night.

6

Dave waited on the couch looking around the living
room of the Garris/Miner household. The place gave him the creeps, to be
honest. He knew Michelle’s mom was a gun freak and took a hard line on public
safety, bordering on fanaticism, but there was almost no warmth to the home.
Everything was utilitarian, kind of Spartan. Nothing said ‘family’ or ‘love.’
Just ‘survive’ and ‘fight.’

Most people in town knew Sheriff Garris, not just
as a Jason-survivor, but as a Jason-survivor who didn’t leave town. Dave had
tried to ask Michelle about her a couple of times, but Michelle kept it vague.
Beyond surviving a massacre a little over thirty years ago, Michelle really
didn’t even know much about it. Megan didn’t like to talk about the night, even
though her entire career as a police officer was founded on protecting the town
from Jason.

For anyone Dave’s age, no one was old enough to
remember the last time there was a major Jason incident, he was just out there.
Yes there were murders now and then and yes there was little snippets of
footage, but he never left his little corner of Cunningham County, so the
younger people didn’t grow up with the same sense of urgency and fear, and
honestly, sneaking into the camp, even for a minute had become a rite of
passage among the local youth. These sojourns were nearly always in broad day
light, never alone, and ended with some teenager driving their daddy’s car at
top speed on Cunningham Road away from the ruins of Camp Blood.

Dave was apprehensive about that night, it was a
crazy plan. A costume party at the camp, broadcasting live on Facebook was
ridiculous, but PJ had been planning this event for months. It was their senior
year and she wanted to do something big and nuts and this was the nuttiest
thing she could think of. She was able to convince ten of her best friends to
go along with it and Dave’s two older brothers agreed to buy a couple of kegs
and come along too.

Michelle was never a part of the plan. It was Dave
that insisted on inviting her, but PJ made him promise to not let her know what
was really going on until the very last second. If Sheriff Garris suspected
anything, they’d all spend the night in handcuffs. They might anyway, but if
all went well, they’d be world famous by the time they were caught.

“Ta-da.”

Dave turned around to see Michelle dressed like a
sexy version of Disney’s Alice. The dress bordered on too short and her legs
looked amazing in white fishnets. Dave flushed a little at how incredible she
looked. He jumped up and met her half way across the room. She twirled for him
and he applauded.

“Holy shit, you look amazing.”

She blushed and gave him a coy smile.

“Thanks, babe. So, what are you wearing?”

“Let’s go to my house and I’ll show you.”

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. He put his
hands on her hips and pushed his tongue between her lips. His technique was
sloppy and over-whelming, lucky for him she really adored him. Putting his
hands on her ass, under the dress was a line she wasn’t ready to let him cross
though. She pulled back and wagged her finger at him.

“Careful, there. I’ll let you know when it’s time.”

He clasped his hands together and bowed
apologetically.

“Here,” she said, taking out her phone.

He froze for a second. He hadn’t anticipated her
just handing it to him.

“Take my picture.”

He took the phone from her and stepped back to
compose a few shots, directing her how to stand, where to put her hands, etc. She
did all his goofy poses playfully, but gave him the finger when he told her to
get her tits out.

“I’m just kidding!”

“Mm-hmm. Let me get my jacket.”

When she turned, he put her phone on silent and put
it in his back pocket and headed for the door.

7

Dave’s brothers, Robert and Michael, drove their
mom’s van into the camp with the two kegs and pre-carved jack o’lanterns. They
were both wearing pistols in their waistbands and there was a sawed-off shotgun
on the floor between them. They weren’t worried about getting spotted on the
security cameras entering the camp, since they’d already snuck out here at dawn
and knocked them down. They weren’t surprised to see them still not put back up
yet. They turned the van around so it was pointing at the road and quietly
unloaded the supplies.

Neither of the young men were oblivious to the
danger, but both had snuck out here dozens of times, stealing little momentos
to sell on E-Bay. They’d never once encountered Jason, but they did find a
headless body once. After that they stayed away for a year.

They were typical bored, small town boys, with too
much energy and testosterone and not enough healthy ways to release it. They
didn’t jump off bridges or get drunk, they walked the sacred killing grounds of
a real-life monster.

They agreed to help Dave and PJ set up in exchange
for free beer and the promise of available girls, not to mention internet
infamy if they pulled this off without getting killed. They certainly agreed it was a stupid
idea, but Jason hadn’t been seen since he had crossed the clearing, headed for
his shack. The chances of him coming back were thin, unless the party got too
out of hand and they made too much noise. Michael had insisted PJ keep the
guest list short and that everyone listened to them implicitly. This would be
no drunken brawl, even if it was going to look like it on Facebook’s live
feed.

Robert had seen Jason’s shack in person once, not
long before they found the headless body. It was about two miles away, down
near a part of the lake that had been cut off by storm damage. It was closer
than Robert liked, but he figured Jason must be getting pretty damn old. Could
he really be as much of a threat? He didn’t want that answer, but that he and
Michael might be able to turn a profit off this night, he was willing to risk
it.

They had brought fire wood and stones to set up a
fire pit in the middle of the grounds and positioned the jack o’lanterns around
on the far side of the pit from where the vehicles would be parked and the Go
Pro cameras set up. As they worked Robert heard a twig snap and they both went
for their guns, scanning the trees. Nothing moved.

Michael got his phone out and checked
Vorhees-Watcher.com, which had multiple live streams from the camp running 24/7
with any new footage running on a constant loop. There had still been no
movement. They themselves were only about twenty yards out of view of the
nearest cameras.

“We’re ok,” Michael said.

“What time is it?”

“Almost five.”

The sun was already getting low and some unfriendly
dark clouds were moving in.

“Shit, we might get rained out before we even
start.”

Michael nodded.

“Should we move into one of the buildings?”

“We’d have to get everyone tetanus shots first,”
Robert chuckled.

8

It wasn’t the first home he had built for himself.
He had dragged scraps from the campgrounds and the various derelict houses to
build his little shack. He didn’t need much, just a place to lie down and be at
peace. He was tired all the time now. Those others, the ones that used to come
again and again, had almost completely stopped coming. Maybe he’d finally
killed them all, or enough of them. The rage and hurt had gone out of him and
now he was tired.

He had been tired before. He had slept, long and
deep, once in dirt, twice in water. He had been at peace in the dark, until
mama’s voice started calling…Kill them, Jason…Kill them all… He always answered mama’s call and the power would
surge through his body and he would tear through every faceless meat sack in
his path.

He laid in a fetal position in his tiny shack that
was barely big enough to contain him. His body growing cold and stiff. From
across the cosmos came the tiny muffled voice of mama, Such a good
boy…sleep, my special boy…

But she was interrupted by the sound of an
approaching engine. He opened his eyes, but she whispered, Not yet, Jason,
just rest…

9

Dave came out of bedroom wearing a white sheet with
two eyeholes cut out and a pair of horn rimmed glasses on the outside. Michelle
smirked from the barstool in the kitchen.

“Nerd ghost?”

“No, haven’t you seen Halloween?”

“Ha, no. We watch romantic comedies and Disney
movies in my house.”

“I have so much corruption to catch up on!”

A horn blasted from outside. Dave pulled the sheet
off and opened the curtains. Tyler was outside in his dad’s convertible ’58
Plymouth Fury, with the top down. He was wearing a Riddler costume. Dave and
Jennifer were also in the front, he was just wearing a rubber pig nose
(appropriate) and she was dressed like a sexy zombie. Tyler’s younger brother,
Titus, was alone in the backseat, wearing a skeleton costume and a paper bag
over his head.

“All right, they’re here.”

“I could just drive us,” Michelle said hopefully,
not wanting to have a way out if this party didn’t go well. After all, these
were Dave’s friends, not hers.

Dave took her hand, “Come on, we’ll hang out, it’ll
be fun…”

She decided to go against her gut and not argue.
Dave locked the front door and they got into the back seat with Titus, who
didn’t greet them. As they pulled away, Michelle heard Titus mumble, ‘this is
going to suck.’

Michelle didn’t bother asking him why. She knew him
from school and he tended to be negative almost always about almost everything.

Dylan passed a bottle of Jack Daniels back to Dave,
who took a small swig and passed it to Michelle. She took it reluctantly and
had a sip before passing it to Titus. He pulled the bag off his head and had
two big gulps before passing it up to Tyler.

At risk of sounding like a party pooper, Michelle
said, “Be careful passing that around. Cops are everywhere tonight.”

Jennifer half turned around, “Oh, they’ll be too
busy with tourists. When do they ever pull over townies?”

As an answer, a siren blasted behind them and they
all looked back at the County Sheriff’s SUV suddenly trailing them with its
blue lights on.

Tyler gritted his teeth, turning white.

“Hide that fucking bottle!”

Jennifer put it up her skirt with a grin. Tyler put
on his right turn signal and pulled to the shoulder. The SUV sped past them and
disappeared around the bend. Tyler put his head on the wheel and everyone
chuckled. Jennifer pulled the bottle out and took another hit.

“See, Michelle?”

Michelle shrugged with a smirk.

10

PJ was dressed as a sexy witch and loading bags of
snacks and her IPhone speaker system. She had made the perfect horror rock
playlist for the occasion. Benny (punk rock vampire), Lori (sexy Freddy
Kreuger), Wes (sadistic surgeon), and Rosy (Black Widow) were clowning around
with some of the other party favors, like the brand new machete PJ had just bought
from the hardware store after school. She knew Dave’s brothers were coming
armed, but a little extra protection wouldn’t hurt anyone. Lori pulled her
plastic Freddy glove off and sat down with a bag of weed and started rolling
joints. Rosy started chasing Benny around PJ’s front yard with the machete.

“Fuck off, you crazy bitch! You’re gonna hurt
yourself!”

“I’m gonna hurt you! Hahahaha!”

PJ’s dad, Dennis, came out on the front porch and
crossed his arms disapprovingly and waited to be noticed. Lori saw him first
and blocked the weed with her body, coughing loudly to get PJ’s attention. PJ
turned around to yell at Rosy and saw her dad with his eyebrows raised.

Wes started to get into the passenger seat, “Wait.
You still haven’t told me how we’re going to get into the camp if there’s a
road block.”

“Robert showed me an old dirt road hunters used to
use, we’ll take that. It’s pretty bumpy, but it goes right into the camp.”

Benny drummed loudly on the trunk, “the cops will
never know we’re there!”

11

Out on Trent Road, past the last of the farm
houses, PJ drove past Gabby’s dusty Ford Escort that was parked and waiting on
the side of the road. Gabby was dressed as Cat Woman and she had Liz (Harley
Quinn) and Jamie (Poison Ivy) with her. Gabby pulled out behind PJ and followed
her onto the narrow dirt road, passed the numerous warnings that they were
entering the designated dead zone and that no help was coming if they got into
trouble. Everyone felt a little sick in the pits of their stomachs.

12

Tyler sped through the back roads and
neighborhoods, taking a left onto Trent, which is where Michelle looked around
realized they were on the wrong side of town.

“Hey, what are we doing out here?”

They looked at each other, but no one answered, as
they passed the first warning sign.

“Dave, what the fuck?”

“Michelle, relax, it’s a surprise.”

Titus scoffed. “More like a dumb stunt. We’re all
gonna be internet famous tonight, Michelle.”

He didn’t listen, just drove past two more signs,
only slowing down to not miss the turn.

“Michelle, I begged PJ to let me invite you! So
everyone would see that you’re cool to be around. We’re only going for a couple
of hours, get some footage of us partying, and get the hell out. It’ll be all
over the internet, we’ll be world famous!”

“And then?”

He turned to his friends for help.

Dylan fully turned around as Tyler steered on to
the dirt road.

“Look, Michelle. No one likes you or wants you
around. You’re stuck up and weird and your fucking mom kills everyone’s fun.
Dave swears you’re cool and if you just do this stunt with us, then you’re in,
you’re one of us.”

“Do you think that fucking matters to me at all,
you fucking stooge?”

Jennifer held up her phone.

“Michelle, I get a text alert when new footage of
Jason is captured-“

“So do my brothers,” Dave interjected.

“He’ll pass multiple cameras on the way to camp,
we’ll get an alert, and we’ll get the fuck outta there. It’s totally safe. PJ,
Robert, and Michael planned it all out. This road is our main escape route,
Cunningham Road is our secondary, both are in the opposite direction of Jason’s
shack.”

“We’ll be fine, Michelle,” Tyler added. “I
promise.”

“My brothers are armed to the teeth. Besides,
they’ve been coming out here for years and they’ve never seen Jason.”

Michelle had fire in her eyes.

“If we make it home alive, I’m never speaking to
you again. We are so fucking done.”

Dylan was still turned around facing her.

“You gonna tell your mom?”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Maybe we’ll just leave you out here, bitch.”

“Dylan, shut the fuck up! We won’t leave you,
Michelle, I promise.”

Tyler shrugged his shoulders, “Besides, there’s no
actual law about not coming out here.”

13

Everyone was already filling red cups from the
kegs, while The Misfits’ “Halloween” blasted from the speakers when Tyler
pulled in. Robert directed him to park the car pointing back toward the road
for a quick run. Michelle was the last out of the car, looking around, feeling
something frigid in her chest. She felt as though she had landed on an alien
planet.

Everything was different here, the air, the ground,
It all felt alive and hostile. This dirt had absorbed so much blood. Michelle’s
heart was pounding and everyone started to feel distant as she felt more
isolated. This place was haunted. Cursed. A blood curse.

“Here,” Michael said, holding out a cup of beer to
her.

She took it and gulped it down, hoping it would
calm her nerves.

14

Wes’s dad went into his son’s room and opened his
laptop. He had been in trouble several times in the last couple of years for
public drunkenness and possession of marijuana. He had narrowly escaped reform
school and expulsion and was on probation. This party at PJ’s was the first
time his father had agreed to let him go out in almost a year. It was a showing
of faith on his part and a reward for good behavior. That didn’t mean Walt
wasn’t going to check his laptop history and messages regularly.

Walt opened the laptop and clicked the Facebook
app. At the top of the time line was a live feed video marked Halloween party
at Camp Fucking Blood. The video swung back and forth showing kids that Walt
recognized immediately, even in costume. One of the kids was a petrified
looking Michelle Miner. Walt knew where they were and he was horrified at their
stupidity. Then the camera man turned the camera on himself and there was
Walt’s own god damned stupid ass son, with a fucking beer in his hand,
shouting, ‘come get me, Jason, you faggot!’

15

Megan got the call while helping Deputy Etchison
separate a tourist and a towny.

“Sheriff, I’m putting a call through from Walter Sawyer.”

“Go ahead, June…Mr. Sawyer? Sheriff Garris here.”

As he laid out what he was seeing on the screen,
someone shouted in the crowd, “Holy shit! Someone’s having a costume party out
at Camp Blood!”

Megan looked around in horror as people started
getting their phones out.

“No no no…”

“Sheriff…Listen…Your daughter is there. I saw her…”

People started running to their cars. Megan dropped
her cell phone and grabbed a couple who were getting into a hatchback.

“Don’t go out there! You’ll die!”

But they just laughed at her.

She ran in front of another car.

“Stop, dammit! I’m ordering you to park your
vehicle!”

They just drove around her.

Etchison wearily walked over and pulled her from
the road.

“Jeezus, Megan, what’s going on?”

“Some damn kids are out at the camp…partying and
broadcasting it on the internet.”

“Ho-leee shit.”

“Call Lieutenant Rick Cologne over at the State
Patrol. We need a chopper over the camp.”

“What are you gonna do, boss? We aren’t going in
there, are we?”

“Hell no. No officers are to step foot within the
dead zone. I’m driving my Fuck-You-Jason in and saving as many people as I can.
I want support and roadblocks on all roads and I want a chopper with a
spotlight over the camp.”

Megan jumped in her cruiser and sped towards the
station.

16

Thunder rumbled loudly and lightning crashed in the
distance. Robert kept his eye on the black clouds overtaking the night sky and
kept checking his phone.

Dave kept trying to talk to Michelle, who was
having none of it.

The rest were either dancing or drinking.

Michael had convinced Gabby to follow him to the
other side of the cars.

Tearing down Cunningham Road was a line of victims,
er, tourists, who were too far removed from the reality of the real Crystal
Lake, that had nothing to do with that little shit town.

And two miles away a voice rang in Jason’s ears…Now
Jason…Kill them…Kill them all..!

17

Megan’s cruiser came to a screeching stop in front
of the garage. Bill limped out from his office biting into an apple.

“Sheriff?”

“Is it gassed up and ready to roll?”

He gulped, “Always…”

She hit the button on the garage door and the motor
started loudly raising the metal door. The lights snapped on and there set the
Army’s special gift to her; an Armored Huron Kenworth T370 personnel carrier,
outfitted with gun ports and filled with full auto AR-15s.

She started climbing into the driver’s seat when
Etchison and Cooper came running up.

“Sheriff, we’re coming with you.”

“Hell no. You know my rule.”

“You can’t drive and shoot, you need us and I’ll
shoot you in the ass before I let you go without us. Right, Coop?”

“Damn right.”

She sighed and nodded.

“I bet you would, you old bastard. Saddle up,
boys.”

18

With
every step, the stiffness loosened. With every step, the rage built.

Jason moved through the darkness with the winds
picking up and every single camera failing to capture him.

19

As the Huron pulled out on to Main Street, Megan
saw the mass exodus in full swing, several cars at a time, all heading in the
same direction. Etchison was watching the video on his phone shaking his head.

“Damn, Megan. Word’s spreading fast…”

Megan picked up the radio.

“I need all units blocking any road leading into
the camp, now! Turn everyone away, anyone gives you trouble, put them cuffs.
And make sure I’ve got a clear path. I’m coming down Cunningham Road in the
Fuck-You-Jason.”

Her deputies sounded off and got moving. Megan had
the lights and sirens blaring, passing cars on the left. Etchison got on the
loudspeaker.

“Attention! Do not approach the dead zone! You will
be arrested! This is your only warning!”

Deputy Bunn came on the radio.

“Sheriff, I got the road blocked, but I’d say half
dozen or more cars already got through. Should I start sending people back
towards town?”

“Hell no. Keep those idiots parked where they are,
I need the oncoming lane empty.”

This was only the second-time Megan had needed to
take the Huron into the dead zone. It was to get that lost land surveyor after
his wife bawled on her knees in Megan’s office to try and find him. She knew he
had accidentally wandered into the dead zone, because he had called her when
stumbled on to a badly decomposed corpse. Megan had felt awful for her and
agreed to drive through, but didn’t tell anyone else, specifically to keep them
from wanting to go with her. Of course, she was too late for land surveyor. She
prayed she wouldn’t be too late for her daughter.

Lightning streaked the sky and the air felt alive
with malevolent spirits. The Huron barreled down Cunningham Road, coming up on
a line of stopped cars. Several people were on the side of the road with their
phones out, taking selfies and filming the Huron as it passed by. Over the
trees, she saw the lights of the state patrol’s helicopter heading for the
camp.

20

Michael was leaned against the front of the van with his head
back. Gabby’s lipstick was smeared over his lips. She was down on her knees
giving him a blowjob. He reached down and got a handful of her hair, but she
smacked his hand away and mumbled ‘stop that.’

He moved his hands to her shoulders, moaning
softly. He suddenly went very stiff and she expected him to finish, but instead
he clamped his hand back on to her head and grabbed a fistful of hair. She got
pissed and tried to jerk her head away, but she was yanked to her feet suddenly
as Michael’s body shook against the front of the van. His head was gone and
blood spurted from his neck like a fountain.

Gabby had no voice to scream, her mouth was just a
horrified, silent O. She continued rising, her feet nearly a foot off the
ground. She could feel hairs coming out of her scalp at the root as she was
turned, coming face to face with the world’s most infamous masked face. Only
one eye was visible in the light that seeped between the vehicles and it said
only one thing; I hate you.

Jason put his other hand in her mouth and gripped
her lower jaw, giving it a little tug to the left and right, before jerking it
with little effort, right off her face. He let her body crumple to the ground
as she drowned on her own blood.

Jason stood over her and Michael watching the life
drain from their bodies while the others went on snapping pictures and dancing
to head banger noise that hurt Jason’s head. He looked past the vehicles and through
the cloud of pot smoke at their weird dress. He tilted his head, confused.
Something was different tonight…but that passed. Nothing mattered except they
all had to pay…kill kill kill…

Lori was taking a selfie with Wes, pressing the
claws of the Freddy glove to his throat.

“Hang on, one more…”

She licked his face while he pretended to die. Then
the sight of approaching headlights caught his eye.

“Hey, who the fuck are they?”

PJ held up her phone.

“Uninvited guests! We went viral, guys!”

A wave of fear passed over Wes.

“Lori, shit…maybe we should get everyone out of
here. I suddenly have a bad feeling about this.”

“Look at that lightning. As soon as that storm gets
to us we’ll have to split anyway.”

Suddenly a bright spotlight lit up the whole
campgrounds as the helicopter reached them. When it did, it revealed Jason
standing behind Lori. Wes fell backwards on his ass pointing, trying to warn
her.

Lori spun around as Jason brought his machete down
on the top of her head, splitting her through her crotch. He shoved through her
two halves before they even had a chance to fall and came for Wes like a Mack
truck, stomping on his stomach and bursting several internal organs before
slicing the top half of his head off.

The others stood in stunned silence for only a
second before racing for the cars.

Robert emptied his pistol into Jason’s chest, which
Jason just shrugged off while looking around, watching where each person ran.
As he fired, Robert was steadily walking backwards, by the time he was out of
bullets he was by the van door. He yanked it open and grabbed the shotgun.

When Tyler reached the Plymouth, he found Gabby
propped up in the driver’s seat with Michael’s head in her lap. He started to
run toward the road, but ran into the path of an oncoming Toyota. He bounced
off the hood and landed in a ditch.

Benny, Rosy, Jennifer, Dylan, and Titus were
panicking by the cars realizing that the drivers had the keys. Rosy spotted
Gabby’s purse and made a break for it, hoping the keys were there and not on
her body. The shotgun’s blast echoed in the night, mixing with the crash of
thunder as the first raindrops fell.

Rosy opened Gabby’s purse and turned to run with
keys in hand.

Jason, while still advancing on Robert reached into
the bonfire and threw a large burning hunk of wood, smashing Rosy’s skull and
setting her hair on fire.

The Toyota driver, panicking after hitting Tyler,
swung a u-turn and hit another car head on, blocking the road for two other
cars that now couldn’t escape.

Titus dived for the keys pissing himself a little
as the second blast from the shotgun went off.

Robert, knowing it was useless, tried to get in the
van, but he wasn’t fast enough and Jason slammed the door on his head. And then
again. Then a third time, only satisfied when Robert’s left eye popped out.

Dave had gotten himself tangled in the sheet and
tripped, while trying to reach Michelle.

Michelle didn’t know when she had fallen to the
ground. She was dizzy and dark streaks blurred the edge of her vision. All she
could really see was Jason flinging Robert’s limp body through the air,
knocking Dave off his feet, just as he was tossing the sheet aside. The rain
poured down her face as she tried to shake off the terror that kept her on her
hands and knees as Jason advanced on Dave.

Dave crawled towards Michelle, yelling for her to
run, but his voice was lost in the storm and the helicopter’s engine. All
around people were screaming, car horns were blaring.

Michelle saw what was almost relief in Dave’s face
as Dylan and Jennifer yanked her to her feet. Jason locked eyes with her as he
kept coming for Dave. In one fluid movement, Jason punted Dave in the head
while throwing his machete. Warmth splashed across Michelle’s left side as the
machete went almost all the way through Dylan’s neck. He staggered backward
reaching for help as the blood spurted. Jennifer pulled her arm hard, screaming
‘run,’ but Michelle’s legs were rubber.

Dave was seeing stars and spitting broken teeth
into the mud. Jason grabbed him by the back of the neck with his right hand and
lifted him to his feet. Jason was backlit by the helicopter, he looked god-like
as he punched Dave over and over, shattering his cheekbones and forehead,
caving his face in.

Gabby’s car had started and Titus, Jennifer, and
Benny were half in shouting for Michelle to run. There was another crash of
metal as two more cars collided trying to get out and coming fast was a loud
engine bearing down on them.

Michelle started backing away finally, starting to
get her wits about her. Jason had paused to watch her, tilting his head to the
side, as if trying to remember if he knew her.

Dylan had fallen to his knees, the machete slid out
and fell to the ground. Michelle assessed her position. If she went for the
car, Jason would overtake her in seconds, if she went for the woods, she would
still be in his domain, and would only prolong her life by minutes. She only
had one choice.

She picked up the machete and gripped it with both
hands.

Gabby’s car wheels were spinning, stuck in the mud.

The other engine was even louder.

Jason seemed to sigh as he started coming at
Michelle.

Michelle raised the machete, praying for one clear
shot.

Two smaller trees went down as the Huron burst
through the thick brush off the side of the road, sideswiping the Plymouth and
smashing into Jason. Jason hurtled through the air, over the nearly dead
bonfire and crashed into the building.

21

“Holy
shit,” Michelle whispered breathlessly, as Megan jumped out of the truck with
an AR-15.

“Mom, I didn’t-“

“Later, get in the car! Coop! Help them get
unstuck!”

“Right, sheriff!”

Cooper jumped out with his rifle and ran over to
Gabby’s car, holding on to Michelle’s arm.

“One of you get out and help me push and then drive
like hell back to the police station. Your parents are already there!”

With Titus behind the wheel, Benny jumped out and
he and Cooper pushed as Michelle collapsed, still holding the machete, in the
back seat beside Jennifer, who was shaking uncontrollably, chanting ‘go, go,
go,’ in a hoarse whisper.

Megan turned around and could see Etchison slide
into the driver seat and shut the door as Megan slowly circled around the
bonfire. She could only see Jason’s feet and he hadn’t moved since smashing
into the building.

“Mom, don’t…”

Jennifer spun around to look.

“What the fuck is she doing..?”

Megan was a full twenty feet from the Huron, the
assault rifle, loaded with armor piercing rounds, heavy in her hands. She was
controlling her breathing, she was listening to the sounds around her, and
despite the rain in her face she kept her eyes on Jason’s still body.

Etchison gunned the engine as he inched the Huron
forward, the helicopter hovered directly overhead, spotlight trained intently.
There were horns blaring from cars trying to disentangle themselves out on the
road, but a few idiots were wandering over to see the big, bad Jason for
themselves.

Etchison’s voice boomed over the loud speaker, “Get
back! He’s not dead! All of you get back to your cars and drive away, if your
car isn’t drivable, ride with someone!”

Megan spotted a hipster running up, trying to
shield his phone from the rain.

“Hey, asshole! Stop!”

He looked up at Megan to say something, but Jason
was suddenly on his feet, grabbing him by the neck, squeezing the life out of
him as he ran for darkness. Megan squeezed off only two shots, because Jason
moved so fast.

The Huron and Helicopter pursued Jason, but they
lost him between the ruins of the cabins. Megan followed him as far as he
dumped the hipster’s body and then backed out slowly. He had escaped all their
lines of vision and could now be anywhere.

22

“Why doesn’t your mom just leave…she’s going to
die…”

“Shut the fuck up, you brain dead bitch. If she
gets hurt, it’ll be all of your faults.”

“We’ve all snuck out here since we were kids…we
never saw him…”

Gabby’s car suddenly leapt forward and came to a
hard stop. Benny started to get in the passenger seat, as Deputy Cooper came to
the driver’s window.

“Listen, I don’t feel real comfortable sending you
down that old hunter’s road, looks like Jason got away, so you might be in more
danger trying to leave. He’s killed people out there before. So, keep the
windows up, doors locked, engine running. Don’t panic or do anything stupid.
Wait for me and I’ll tell you where to go.”

Titus nodded dumbly and started rolling up the
window as a few people approached Cooper.

“Excuse me, deputy, my friend went over there a
minute ago, right before the gun shots, is he ok?”

“How the fuck should I know? I’m asshole deep in
mud trying to move a fucking car! Get your asses back to town, before I arrest
you!”

“What about our friend?”

“He’ll be properly arrested. Fuck off.”

Benny, who was still standing outside the car
looking around, saw him a split second before all hell broke loose; out of
nowhere Jason rose up behind the people talking to Cooper and punched through a
man’s chest. Cooper was sprayed with blood. The woman beside the dead man tried
to run, but Jason jammed his fingers into her eye sockets and swung her at
Cooper as he dived for his rifle that had fallen in the mud. The force of her
body knocked the wind out of him, slamming him against the side of the car.

All the kids inside the car began screaming. Titus
tried to go from Park to Drive, but only hit Neutral and started gunning the
engine, screaming at the car to move. Benny could see the assault rifle and ran
for it as Jason grabbed Cooper by one arm and a fistful of belly fat. Michelle
screamed at Titus that he was in neutral, but Jason slammed Cooper on the hood
and then smashed him into the windshield. Benny aimed the rifle and pulled the
trigger, but nothing happened. He was inexperienced with guns and started
looking for the safety.

Titus tried to crawl out of the door, but Jason had
seen Benny and was coming for him. On his way, he kicked the door with incredible
power, slamming it against Titus, shattering several ribs. Benny tried to swing
the rifle like a club, but Jason caught it easily and yanked it from his hands
before swinging it himself, caving the side of Benny’s head in.

Behind him, people were screaming. Jason spun
around to see who would die next and felt his own machete sink into the side of
his neck. He grabbed the blade and tried to pull, but Michelle had both hands
on the handle and was trying to yank it back.

“Michelle! Get down!”

Over Jason’s shoulder, she could see Megan taking
aim. She let go of the machete and hit the ground. Machine gun fire rocked the
night and with the lights from the Huron and helicopter so brightly shining on
them, it became sensory overload for Michelle as she tried to crawl away, but
she was temporarily blinded and had lost her sense of direction and wound up
with Titus gasping for air in her face.

Megan emptied her clip into Jason, ejected it and
loaded a fresh one, as she had practiced dozens, if not hundreds of times.
Rotted chunks of flesh had flown off Jason, but he was still on his feet. He
staggered left and right and reached up for the machete, which is when Megan
opened fire again, this time knocking him off his feet.

The remaining eight people who hadn’t or hadn’t
been able to flee emerged from behind their cars and slowly approached for a
closer look. Cooper coughed up blood and rolled off the hood and fell on his
hands and knees in front of Gabby’s car. Etchison pulled the Huron around
beside Megan and rolled down the window, looking back at Jason. Michelle
cradled Titus’s head to keep his face out of the mud. Megan watched everything.

“Megan…”

“I know.”

“I hate to be cold about this, but I think we
should grab Michelle and Cooper and cut our losses. Everyone knows better than
to be here…”

Etchison climbed down with his rifle, leaving the
door open. Megan had her right foot firmly planted behind her, barrel aimed
straight at Jason, and finger slightly squeezing the trigger, waiting for even
the slightest movement. The rain had slowed to a drizzle. People were inching
closer and closer, snapping pics with their phones. Etchison waved at them to
get back, but only two complied. Cooper was pulling himself up when he saw
Michelle looking up at him.

“Go to your mom,” he whispered.

“I don’t think I can move Titus.”

Etchison took Cooper by the arm.

“I can walk, get the kid…”

Again, Etchison waved for the people to get back,
but they continued snapping pics and videoing. He handed the rifle to Michelle.

“Careful, it’s ready to rock. Just point it at him
and pull the trigger if he moves.”

She nodded, mimicking her mom’s stance. Etchison
stooped down and lifted Titus to his feet. The kid coughed blood, leaning all
his weight against the deputy. Cooper staggered past them, drawing his pistol.
Michelle waited to move until Etchison and Titus passed then she moved
sideways, covering them.

Megan whispered, “Good girl, don’t stop.”

As expected, Jason sat up, but as Megan began
firing he flung the machete from his neck and through Etchison’s arm and
Titus’s back. Michelle fired, but the AR-15 had a greater kick than the smaller
single shot rifles she was used to firing, and her shots went wild, strafing Jason’s
back as he got to his feet. Megan yelled for her to run between controlled
bursts of fire, which Jason just shrugged off as he decided who was next.

Etchison staggered toward Megan with his arm
hanging on by only a bit of fabric, he was losing a lot of blood very quickly.
Cooper hooked his arm around his waist and started walking him to the Huron
while blasting Jason with his pistol. The onlookers were scattering into the
trees and Megan quickly lost sight of them. Michelle had stopped moving when Titus
died and Megan could see she was picking her shots. Jason kept looking back and
forth between them, standing his ground as the rounds punched fresh holes
through his torso. Megan got off a headshot that blasted away a chunk of hockey
mask over his left eye.

That was it, Jason charged Michelle. Michelle
emptied her clip and ran towards Megan who was loading a fresh clip. Cooper let
Etchison go and moved to get between Jason and Michelle. He leveled his pistol
at Jason, aiming for his left eye. Michelle passed behind him while Jason came
right at him, ignoring Megan’s gunfire. Cooper fired, striking the cheek of the
hockey mask, and the next instant, Jason’s fist went through his chest.

Megan dropped her spent rifle and pulled her side
arm.

“Hey, maggot head, over here!”

But Jason ignored her, flung Cooper to the side and
kept after Michelle.

Michelle looked back and saw him gaining on her.
She pivoted to the left and turned him away from the Huron, running back toward
Titus. Without stopping she grabbed the machete.

“Michelle! No!”

Michelle could hear his thudding footsteps getting
closer and closer. Michelle spun, with everything she had, and sank the blade
into the side of his head, knocking off the hockey mask. Jason staggered to the
side and went down to one knee. Michelle started to run, but saw an opening and
kicked the machete deeper into his skull, knocking Jason to his side. She
backed away as Jason got back to his feet, pulling the machete out.

He was feeling tired again. They were hurting him…ma…ma…

Kill them, Jason…kill them all…

Black goo oozed down his face. Shards of shoulder
blade exploded out his back. Megan advanced on him, picking her shots
carefully. Michelle kept backing away. Rotted meat began to stretch and stitch
itself back together. Megan was close, but Michelle was closer. Michelle
glanced at her mom and Jason broke at a run towards her. She ran toward the
cabins. Megan ran for the Huron.

Michelle’s lungs were on fire and she was seeing
black spots as her head pounded. He was going to catch her. It was
inevitable…Then she heard the Huron’s engine roar.

23

Jason almost had heard as the Huron bared down on
him, he turned as it struck him, cracking many bones in the process. He pulled
himself up on the grill, locking eyes with Megan. She smashed him through one
the cabins, putting the pedal to the floor. He reached for her, trying to free
clothes and ribs that got stuck on the truck grill. Megan drove the Huron at
top speed, aiming for the dock. Jason looked back and saw where they were
headed and desperately tried to pull himself loose.

The wooden dock cracked and moaned as the truck hit
it, with parts of it collapsing in the wake of the truck.

Megan screamed, “FUCK YOU!” as they went off the
tip of the dock, plunging into the inky, black water. The spotlights on top
burned all the way to the bottom and she was able to watch Jason get crushed
and pinned under the weight of the truck, as the cab began to flood.

“Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you..! Get up now,
fucker!”

He reached and pushed and pounded desperately
before the rage finally went out in his eyes and he became still.

The truck was ass up, leaning partially on the
collapsed dock that had sunk behind them. Megan swam out the window, heading
for the spotlight shining down from above. She floated up, kicking her feet and
watching Jason until he was too deep to see.

24

Michelle had collapsed on the beach, sobbing
loudly, calling for her mom. Jennifer fell to her knees beside Michelle and put
her arms around her.

“I’m so sorry…”

“Oh…fuck you…” but Michelle hugged her back anyway.

Megan came to the surface, gasping for breath and
Michelle and Jennifer ran into the water to help pull her out and they all fell
in the sand.

The helicopter landed behind them and Rick Cologne
stepped out and called for them to move their asses. Once they were aboard, the
helicopter rose straight up to avoid trees and then swept over the carnage
below, over Cunningham Road, and on back to town.